Celebrating 75 years

The Computer Laboratory celebrated its 75th anniversary on Wednesday 24th April, 2013. This special event also marked the centenary of the Cambridge computer pioneer, Professor Sir Maurice Wilkes. The programme for the day included a number of special lectures and concluded with the annual Cambridge Computer Laboratory Ring dinner. The full programme of events held during the day is listed below:

Programme of events

The annual Wheeler lecture was given by Sir Tony Hoare, Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and Honorary Member of the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. The lecture is named in honour of David Wheeler, an early member of the Laboratory and computer pioneer.

The newly published book: Cambridge computing: the first 75 years was launched with speeches by Professor Andy Hopper, Lord Alec Broers, Professor Haroon Ahmed and Mr. Julian Platt. Written by Professor Haroon Ahmed, this book is a lavishly illustrated and engaging account of computing in Cambridge from Babbage to the present day. Copies are available from Third Millennium Information Ltd.

16:30 – Innovation lecture

The innovation lecture was delivered by Dr. Mike Lynch, OBE, FREng., founder of Invoke Capital, UK-based technology investment company, former CEO of Autonomy and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Testimonials

“On behalf of Google, I warmly congratulate the
Computer Laboratory on the occasion of its 75th anniversary. The Computer
Laboratory and Google share a strong tradition in computer science and
engineering; albeit theirs being somewhat longer than ours. We also applaud
their culture of innovation and we trust that the next 75 years will be as
exciting and rewarding as were the first 75.”Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google.

“A key factor in Microsoft's choice for the
location of its first research center outside of the United States,
was the proximity to Cambridge. As one of the world’s best teaching
and research universities, with historical links to the founding of
computer science, Cambridge University’s Computer Laboratory has been
the hub for major advances in computing, including original work in
building complete computers and the development of programming
languages and operating systems. The technologies developed by the
University, Microsoft Research and other leading technology companies
in Cambridge will be fundamental in addressing some of the greatest
challenges of this century.”William H. Gates III, KBE, Co-founder and Chairman of
Microsoft, and Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“The Cambridge Computer Laboratory has been
and continues to be, a world leader in the field of Computer Science.
Its strong emphasis on academic excellence and solving real-world
problems produces top graduates and post-graduates ready to work in
world-leading technology companies. Qualcomm values the opportunity to
sponsor and collaborate with excellent students and faculty in the
Computer Lab and would like to congratulate the Lab on reaching this
historic milestone. We look forward to many more years of
collaboration.”Paul Jacobs, CEO, Qualcomm.

Press coverage

The event has been widely covered in the news, including the following reports: